They have already seen each other several times and maintain regular permanent telephone contact, so the meeting between Pedro Sánchez and Pere Aragonès this afternoon at the Palau de la Generalitat has no longer been just a formality, but a meeting to finalize what was negotiated and get to the point in a climate of understanding. ERC agreed to the re-election of the socialist as president of the Government mainly in exchange for an amnesty that is already being processed, a transfer of Rodalies that will require time, but of which the i's are already being dotted, and progress in the resolution of the political conflict , for which the independentists propose a referendum. Thus, from vis-a-vis the commitment to convene the dialogue table for the first quarter of 2024 has emerged. The two presidents will be present.
In addition, they have decided to approve an organic law to guarantee multilingualism that guarantees the right of citizens to address the General Administration of the State in Catalan.” Likewise, it has been agreed to transfer the management of the Minimum Living Income (IMV), which will be approved by the Council of Ministers on December 27, to promote the project for the installation in Catalonia of a technological center for the production of chips, and to develop starting in January the agreement and the calendar to advance the transfer of Rodalies.
Where there are differences is in the resolution of the political conflict. For Sánchez, the amnesty law “is a good law,” but the self-determination referendum requested by the Government has no place. It is not constitutional, he has said, but he is willing to seek a “middle path” to improve Catalonia's self-government, including financing. The Government seeks “singular financing”, the result of a bilateral agreement. Moncloa wants a multilateral framework. It remains to be seen, but the commitments made today attest to the fact that the appointment of just over an hour and a quarter has been more work than formal:
Although the Government's reluctance regarding the PSOE and the Government is still alive, there is greater confidence today. The independentists often criticize the socialists' non-compliance, but in recent weeks agreements sealed in the last legislature have materialized, such as the transfer of 60 million for the audiovisual hub in Sant Adria de Besòs, or the investment for improvements in infrastructure in the Maresme, which have helped to strengthen ties a bit.
In the morning, Aragonès y Sánchez inaugurated the MareNostrum 5 supercomputer installed in the Supercomputing Center-National Supercomputing Center. The president of the Generalitat then formally received the head of the Government at the gates of Palau, to some shouts from those gathered by the Catalan National Assembly (ANC), on the one hand, and Vox, on the other. Both leaders repeated the greeting in the Gòtica gallery, with a more cordial tone.
Once inside the Chamber of Deputies, where they met, Aragonès gave her the Catalan trilogy Permagel, Boulder y Mamut, by Eva Balatasar.
It is the fourth meeting between Sánchez and Aragonès, either at the Moncloa or the Palau de la Generalitat. Two in 2021, in June and September, another in July 2022, and today's, in which the yellow flower in the shape of a pin that the Catalan president wore on the three other occasions in support of those convicted by the process does not it has disappeared. The amnesty has not been approved yet.
In any case, this afternoon's face-to-face meeting had a preview: the previous day the Government sealed the transfer of 1.6 billion euros until 2030 to increase the Mossos d'Esquadra workforce by 3,000 more troops. Another example of the understanding exhibited by the two governments and that the appointment with Aragonès will not serve as a warm-up for Sánchez for the one he has tomorrow with Alberto Núñez Feijóo in Congress, which clearly foresees a fight.
